Award

Private Rented Sector Licensing and Inspection

READING BOROUGH COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

05 Dec 2025 at 10:24

TenderUpdate

11 Sep 2025 at 14:22

Tender

10 Sep 2025 at 11:24

Summary of the contracting process

Reading Borough Council has awarded the contract for 'Private Rented Sector Licensing and Inspection' to HOME SAFE DELIVERY PARTNERS LTD. This initiative falls under the housing industry category and aims to introduce discretionary licensing schemes for houses in multiple occupations and selective licensing for rented properties. Located in Reading, UK, the process has reached the award stage as of 3rd December 2025, following an open procurement method. The contract period is set to start on 15th February 2026 and could extend up to 2033, subject to performance criteria.

Businesses specialising in residential and non-residential property services, software programming, consultancy, and data services would find ample opportunities for growth through this tender. This project, demanding application processing, inspections, and compliance monitoring, particularly suits those with experience in residential sector challenges, such as energy efficiency and hazard management. SMEs, given their agility, may thrive in this environment, as evidenced by HOME SAFE DELIVERY PARTNERS LTD, recognised for their contributions to similar service requirements. The estimated contract value stands significant, fostering prospects for long-term engagement and impact within Reading's local housing sector.

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Notice Title

Private Rented Sector Licensing and Inspection

Notice Description

The Council currently operates a licensing scheme under the housing Act 2004 for larger houses in multiple occupation with 5 or more occupants, this is the national mandatory licensing scheme. Approximately 1,400 properties are licenced (or in the process of being licenced) on this scheme. The Housing Act contains provisions for the Council to designate discretionary licensing schemes, additional licensing to cover smaller houses in multiple occupation and selective licensing to cover all rented properties, within a designated area. The evidence to support introduction of discretionary licensing scheme was gathered through a Boroughwide Stock Condition Survey. The main features of the Stock Condition Survey included: o Reading's Private rented Sector (PRS) is now calculated to be 39.9% of all housing stock. o The PRS in Reading is distributed across all 16 wards. o Reading has a mixture of high and low deprivation wards. 8 of 16 wards have aggregated IMD rankings below the national average. o Reading has a lower proportion in fuel poverty (10.3%) than the national average. o There are 4,297 private rented properties in Reading that are likely to have at least 1 serious housing hazard distributed across all wards. o Reading Borough Council recorded 3,117 complaints and service requests from private tenants and others linked to PRS properties over 5-years. o 1,084 PRS properties are likely to fail the basic energy efficiency requirement. o Reading's house in multiple occupation (hmo) population has been estimated to comprise a total of 3,272 properties. o Analysis shows that 1,230 hmos in Reading are predicted to have at least one serious hazard. o During inspections, officers identified 701 Category 1 and 2 hazards (HHSRS). The full survey and accompanying report can be found in the papers for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Leisure Committee - Wednesday, 21st February, 2024 6.30 pm at democracy.reading.gov.uk 2.1.6 Following the stock condition report a statutory consultation exercise was completed in June-August 2024, which is published online at https://reading.govocal.com/en-GB/projects/prsconsultation The outcome of the consultation was a decision to proceed with the designation of both additional and selective licensing schemes. A further decision was made to seek a delivery partner to administer the scheme. This tender seeks a delivery partner, to support additional (hmo) licensing and selective licensing designations in Reading under the Housing Act 2004 parts 2 and 3. The Council has delegated powers to officers to designate four discretionary licensing schemes Additional hmo licensing scheme for smaller houses in multiple occupation (3-4 occupants). This would cover the whole Borough, equating to around 1600 properties. Section 257 hmos divided into self-contained flats are not proposed to be covered in the designation Selective licensing of all rented properties in Battle ward, to the west of Reading town centre. This is estimated to cover approximately 1800 properties. Selective licensing of all rented properties in Park ward, to the east of Reading close to the university. This is estimated to cover approximately 1500 properties. Selective licensing of all rented properties in Redlands ward, to the east of Reading close to the university and adjacent to Park ward. This is estimated to cover approximately 1900 properties. The estimated number of properties is based upon 80% of the predicted number of licensable properties identified in the stock condition report. A further delegation has been received to enter into a 5 year contract with the possibility of a 2 year extension to implement the schemes outlined in 3.2.1 and 3.2.2. Further extensions are subject to approval. The designations are proposed to be made to tackle the areas /sectors with the worst property conditions within the borough in particular relating to hazards and property conditions. The proposed selective licensing designations are proposed to be made on the ground of poor property conditions. Full details of the scope and requirements can be found in the Specification at Annex 1. The tender documents contain proposals for the required services (including application processing, inspections and compliance monitoring) and provision of software for this tender.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: A 2 year extension is available subject to the specified requirements being met as outlined in the specification project scope.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05977c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080020-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

70 - Real estate services

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support


CPV Codes

70210000 - Residential property renting or leasing services

70220000 - Non-residential property renting or leasing services

72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services

72300000 - Data services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,654,880 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£2,654,880 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£3,479,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
5 Dec 20252 months ago
Submission Deadline
6 Oct 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
3 Dec 20252 months ago
Contract Period
15 Feb 2026 - 14 Feb 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
READING BOROUGH COUNCIL
Contact Name
Stuart Taylor
Contact Email
pchub@reading.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
READING
Postcode
RG1 2LU
Post Town
Reading
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ16 Berkshire West
Delivery Location
TLJ11 Berkshire

Local Authority
Reading
Electoral Ward
Abbey
Westminster Constituency
Reading Central

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

HOME SAFE DELIVERY PARTNERS

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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